The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that Tom Lantos, a congressman from California, has correctly described Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian "leader", as "a poison, a plague and a pest":

During his press conference, the Hungarian-born congressman, who is the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the US Congress, reserved his harshest criticism for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

"Arafat is a poison in the region... a plague and a pest who has contributed to the tragedy and suffering of Palestinians and Israelis for a long time," Lantos said.

"His destructive, irresponsible, and monstrous behavior has brought death and destruction to his people and suicide bombings to Israel. The sooner he fades into oblivion the better of the region will be," he added.

The congressman confirmed that Jordan's King Abdullah's open critique of the Palestinian leader last week brought public the negative view the Jordanian monarch has held of Arafat for a very long time, opinions that he heretofore kept private.

For more information on how Arafat the pest has refused peace and decided to murder women and children, click here.

Tom Lantos recently has defeated a Palestinian Candidate, Maad Abu-Ghazalah, in the primaries for the Democratic party in the 12th district of California. For more details, click here.

I copy the full article below, where Mr. Lantos also tells the truth about Egypt's refusal to stop the mass murdering Palestinian terrorists from bringing bombs and guns into Gaza. Found this on the excellent IsraellyCool.

Lantos faults Egypt for Rafah Operation
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS, May 24, 2004, Link

Israel's six-day military operation in the Gaza Strip was necessitated by Egyptian and Palestinian inaction against the smuggling of weapons along the border, US Congressman Tom Lantos said Monday.

"It is self-evident that if Egypt, with its huge military capabilities, would do its job to prevent the smuggling of weapons and if the Palestinian Authority had done its job to maintain security, then there would have been no need for such an incursion," Lantos said at a Jerusalem press conference during a two-day visit to Israel.

The California congressman said that Egyptian "unhelpfulness" in resolving this issue was similar to Syrian President Bashar Assad's willingness to allow foreign terrorists to slip through Syria's border with Iraq to attack American troops in the country.

"It is self-evident that Egypt has all the capability to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza if it so desires to do so, just as Assad could stop terrorists from entering into Iraq if he so willed," Lantos said, noting that he has brought the matter up repeatedly with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to no avail.

"The commonality in the two cases is that you have a failure – and lack of will – on the part of both leaders to do their share in dealing with an explosive situation," he added.

Lantos' remarks came as the Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman held talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem to discuss new security arrangements between the two countries after next year's expected Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Publicly, Israel has said Egypt could do more to stop weapons smuggling into Rafah.

During his press conference, the Hungarian-born congressman, who is the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the US Congress, reserved his harshest criticism for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

"Arafat is a poison in the region... a plague and a pest who has contributed to the tragedy and suffering of Palestinians and Israelis for a long time," Lantos said.

"His destructive, irresponsible, and monstrous behavior has brought death and destruction to his people and suicide bombings to Israel. The sooner he fades into oblivion the better of the region will be," he added.

The congressman confirmed that Jordan's King Abdullah's open critique of the Palestinian leader last week brought public the negative view the Jordanian monarch has held of Arafat for a very long time, opinions that he heretofore kept private.

Lantos, who noted that he was a member of the first congressional team to meet with Arafat upon his return to the West Bank last decade, expressed his "profound disappointment" with European politicians and UN officials who continue to deal with Arafat even after his rejection of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's offer at Camp David nearly four years ago, which would have seen upwards of 95% of the West Bank transferred to Palestinian control.

In his remarks, the American congressman stressed that serious and responsible leadership was not lacking on the Palestinian side but that they were being "suffocated" by Arafat.

Lantos, who held a series of top level meetings with Israeli government officials from Sharon on down during his 48 hours lightning visit to Israel, openly endorsed Sharon's disengagement plan from the Palestinians calling himself a "strong supporter" of the premier's plan.

The 76-year-old Lantos, who serves as the senior Democrat on the House's International Relations Committee, said that Israel would still have a good friend in the White House if the Democratic presumptive nominee, John Kerry, is elected in November.

"President Bush has proven himself to be a reliable, trustworthy, and dependable friend for the State of Israel," Lantos said unabashedly about the Republican president.
"Bush is an excellent friend of Israel and Kerry is an equally excellent friend of Israel," he said.

Whichever way the US elections go, Israel has nothing to worry about, he said.

Posted by David Melle
 Link to this page |   Email this entry |   digg this